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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
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Case #6686 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
600 sheep left unsheared for three years
Dunedin, OT (NZ)Incident Date: Wednesday, Nov 30, 2005
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Barry John Walker
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Dunedin farmer could face charges of mistreating animals after Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials stepped in to shear 600 sheep that had three years' wool growth.
MAF investigator Peter Presland said ministry staff, Federated Farmers and volunteers spent three days shearing, dipping and drenching the flock owned by a man he said they had previously had dealings with over animal mistreatment. Mr Presland said he received a complaint from a member of the public and found sheep with an estimated 12kg-14kg of wool with staples 40cm long. The farm did not have a woolshed so the sheep had to be trucked to another farm where they were shorn, dipped and drenched and returned to their owner. "The job needed doing. There is no reason to have excessively woolly sheep," Mr Presland said.
MAF had met the costs so far, but Mr Presland said seeking reimbursement was an option being considered along with charges under the Animal Welfare Act. The final costs had not yet been determined. MAF was also considering its longer term options, given this was not the first time there had been animal welfare concerns on the property, he said. "The ministry can't keep going back and doing the same thing on the owner's behalf," he said.
Of the 900 sheep in the flock, 600 ewes and wethers had not been shorn for an estimated three years. The shearers and wool handlers had never seen sheep in such condition, Mr Presland said, and while there was plenty of wool, it was in poor condition and of little value
Case UpdatesA New Zealand farmer has been banned from owning animals for 25 years after inspectors found he had neglected a flock of 1,000 sheep with nearly half of them carrying so much wool they could not walk around, news reports said Wednesday.
A Dunedin court heard that Barry John Walker, 67, who farmed in Otago province, ignored orders by agriculture ministry inspectors to shear the sheep and treat them for lice.
The ministry said Walker showed wilful disobedience toward the health and welfare of his animals and seized the sheep.
A spokesman said there had been similar problems with Walker's treatment of animals going back to 1998. | Source: Digital Journal - Oct 2, 2007
Update posted on Oct 7, 2007 - 12:14AM |
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